Comedian Kyle Kinane, 35, has scored his first full-length special,
“Whiskey Icarus,” released by Comedy Central on January 29 on CD and
DVD after airing on the network in November. Kinane’s material is
definitely fully formed and assured. Some of the subjects and tone
are quite similar to contemporary Matt Braunger (see
review, 7/8/12), although Kinane doesn’t aim for as much
surrealism as Braunger.

Anyway, Kinane shows his mastery on a few of the pieces here (all
the tracks are named after classic rock songs and themes like
“Detroit Rock City,” “Beth” and “Flaming Youth,” rather than what
they cover.

Kinane’s enthusiasm for “pho,” which is Vietnamese soup that he
describes as “what happens when a former child soldier pours hot
rainwater over fish nightmares – it’s delicious and I can’t stop
eating it,” is delivered with that blustery Braunger tone. This is
just one little instance though – where Kinane really entertains is
when he stretches out at length.

That happens on an observational discourse about being on a flight
next to someone who has chosen to bring a Foot Locker bag full of
pancakes on as his snack. Kinane takes this everywhere it can go –
to who this guy might be, how he got through security and how he
ought to be acting with such a strange activity.

Another of Kinane’s great bits on “Whiskey Icarus” is also set on an
airplane – what happens when he finds himself sitting next to a
couple having sex under a blanket. Again, Kinane elevates the bit by
musing on how the couple planned this, how he should react, and how
this could be entertaining instead of unpleasant.

Kinane revels in a loser persona in his material, but his talent is
clearly winning, and “Whiskey Icarus,” in any format, is well worth
checking out.